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Government and politics of Saridan
The government and politics of Saridan exists within the framework of a unitary republic, as determined by the country's constitution. Saridan is a semi-presidential parliamentary democracy, in which the State President is the democratically elected head of state. The Chancellor, the country's head of government, chairs the cabinet and together with the State President forms the executive branch. Legislative power lies with the Congress and the legislative branch is generally regarded as the most powerful, with the ability to amend the constitution, sign international treaties and mandate early elections. At the top of the juridical branch is the Supreme Court of Saridan. Constitution The Saridanese constitution was written millennia ago but has been regularly update since then. Across this period of time, the basic principles have remained relatively consistent despite changes in the rights and freedoms of citizens. Any change to the constitution requires a two-thirds vote of the legislature, presently known as the Congress. In addition, it outlines the powers and responsibilities of the various branches of government. Notably, the Saridanese constitution contains no provisions which outline the rights of citizens in contrast to most nations. Some argue this has been a major factor in Saridan's many historic controversies, such as slavery. Government Saridan's government is led by the country's democratically elected State President (Duntrekaans: Staatspresident). Although this title and position has connotations of monarchy, the role of the stadtholder is more roughly similar to that of a president in other forms of government. In addition to providing political leadership and direction to the country, the stadtholder holds numerous significant patronage powers. In spite of this, it is the Chancellor (Duntrekaans: Kanselier) who is generally regarded as being Saridan's head of government. The Grand Pensionary is often equated to the role of Prime Minister in other nations, in that they are responsible for chairing cabinet meetings and operate on the principle of primus inter pares (meaning "first among equals"). As a result, the Grand Pensionary must be approved by the national legislature in the same manner that all cabinet members are appointed. Current composition NOT UPDATED Saridan currently is currently governed by a coalition between the party One Nation (Duntrekaans: Een Nasie) and The Liberal Union (Duntrekaans: Die Liberale Unie) Legislature The Congress (Duntrekaans: Kongres) is the unicameral national legislative branch in Saridan and the supreme law-making body within the country. The legislature meets for two sessions in a calendar year. The first session runs from January to May and is followed by a short break throughout the height of the dry season in the majority of the country. The second session lasts from September to December. There is then a short break before the beginning of the next year's first session. The five Provincial Assemblies also follow this meeting structure to ensure continuity. Although the national government has granted them the power to determine their own schedules, all have chosen to continue with the existing national one. A form of proportional representation is used to elect members to the Congress. Within this system, the legislative seats are equally divided between the five provinces (they are not allocated proportionally). Voters must then vote for a recognised political party from the list of those registered with the Saridanese Voting and Elections Authority (SVEA). Political parties are then allocated a number of legislative seats based on their performance which they may allocate to whoever they wish, provided they meet the requirements for election to the Congress. Members of the legislature are often known as "Councillors" (Duntrekaans: Raadslede; sing. Raadslid) as a hangover from when the body was known as the People's Council (Duntrekaans: Volksraad). Judiciary Saridan's judiciary is based on an appeals system. The final court of appeal is the Supreme Court of Saridan. Local government Saridan is divided into five provinces, each with a provincial government. Provincial government differs from government at the national in that there is no separate executive branch. Instead, each province is run by a 'Provincial Assembly'. Each assembly is empowered to legislation in areas determined by the national government and the agenda in the legislative agenda is determined by the Speaker of the Assembly, who is the leader of the largest political party. Unlike in other nations, provincial elections are not held separately to national elections and the regional results in elections for the Congress determine the composition of the Provincial Assemblies. Each province is further broken down into a number of municipalities. Political parties Political parties are central to the government and politics of Saridan. At the national level, all candidates must be registered with a recognised political parties. At present, the following political parties are registered to participate in legislative and presidential elections. Voting and elections Elections for the head of state and the legislature are held in parallel, every four years. For presidential elections, a two-round runoff voting. For legislative elections, a regional list system is used.